The development of Li+ conducting polymer electrolyte based on potato starch/graphene oxide blend

Solid polymer electrolytes based on potato starch (PS) and graphene oxide (GO) have been developed in this study. Blending GO with PS has improved the ionic conductivity and mechanical properties of the electrolytes. In this work, series of polymer blend consisting of PS and GO as co-host polymer were prepared using solution cast method. The most amorphous PS-GO blend was obtained using 80 wt% of PS and 20 wt% of GO as recorded by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Incorporation of 40 wt% lithium trifluoromethanesulfonate (LiCF3SO3) into the PS-GO blend increases the conductivity to (1.48 ± 0.35) × 10−5 S cm−1. Further enhancement of conductivity was made using 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ([Bmim][Cl]). The highest conductivity at room temperature is obtained for the electrolyte containing 30 wt% of [Bmim][Cl] with conductivity value of (4.80 ± 0.69) × 10−4 S cm−1. Analysis of the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra confirmed the interaction between LiCF3SO3, [Bmim][Cl], and PS-GO blend. The variation of the dielectric constant and modulus studies versus frequency indicates that system of PS-GO-LiCF3SO3-[Bmim][Cl] obeys non-Debye behavior.